As everyone knows, bananas grow in bunches and they are generally marketed to the public in clusters (i.e., a portion of a bunch consisting of several bananas attached together at their crowns). Sometimes it is desired to sell individual bananas to the consumer. The separation of these individual bananas from the clusters in a cost-effective way, without damaging them, is not an easy problem. The inventors herein are not aware of any existing methods or means for mechanically separating banana clusters into individual bananas on a large scale automated basis. In the areas of banana harvesting and processing, the following patent may be relevant—GB 1077435. This patent describes a semi-cylindrical cutting tool for manually cutting banana clusters off the tree trunk. The cutter is not designed for an automated process or for separating those clusters into individual bananas.
Nevertheless, there have been engineering solutions related to the separation of clusters into individual fruits, as applied to other types of fruit (other than bananas).
A device has been disclosed for separation of cherry clusters into individual cherries (“Cherry Splitter,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,492, Watton, et al., issued Sep. 24, 1991). The device separates a cluster of cherries while retaining the maximum length of the cherry stems. The cherries are arranged horizontally on belt conveyors that are positioned close to one another. The conveyors are strung along several pairs of cutters and separating guides, installed one behind another along one line.
A cluster moves on the belts into the operating zone of the separator. The separator is a revolving disk that ensures: a) the divergence of cherry stems to different sides, and b) that the cluster is oriented in such a way that when it goes under the disk cutter, the stems are on different sides of the disk. This allows cutting the cluster into two parts while preserving stems.
The patent “Tandem Drum Cluster Separator,” U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,057, Mietzal, et al., issued Nov. 15, 1988, describes a device for separation of pod vegetable clusters. It includes two horizontally arranged drums with a cylindrical surface. Each drum is equipped with rods that are secured on its cylindrical surface and directed radially outward. The free ends of the rods are equipped with upward-facing hooks. During operation of the device, pod clusters fall into the space between the drums. As they fall, they get hooked on the rods. The drums, rotating in opposite directions, bring the rods with hanging clusters out of the confined area between the drums; the rods transfer the clusters toward sickle-shaped knives located under the rods in such a way that the knives cut the pods off clusters at the base of the stem.
A device also exists for separation of petals from the edible chrysanthemum flower cup (“Separation of petals of edible chrysanthemum and separator for petal,” Japanese Patent 8116944, published May 14, 1996). The device includes a support on which the flower is located—a vertical, hollow, truncated cone, its smaller (upper) end having an opening that corresponds to the size of the flower cup. The flower is positioned on the support in such a way that the cup is located above the upper hole, and the petals fall long the sides of the cone. To separate the cup from the petals, the device uses a lever and a stamping punch.
The structure of banana clusters and the shape of bananas differ significantly from cherry clusters, pod vegetables, and chrysanthemum flowers. Therefore, none of the above-described inventions can be used to separate banana clusters into individual fruits.